Comparison

The National vs Mac + MacBook User

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

The National

Access comprehensive coverage of Scottish news, politics, business, and culture. Enjoy insightful analysis, opinion pieces, and in-depth reporting. Stay updated with live news, read the digital paper, and enjoy interactive puzzles and audio articles.

Highlights
  • Live news updates
  • Ad-free reading experience
  • Daily digital newspapers
  • Interactive puzzles
  • Article audio player
Features
Read full description

The National is a dynamic newspaper providing comprehensive coverage of current affairs, politics, business, culture, and more. With a strong focus on national and international news, it offers insightful analysis, thought-provoking opinion pieces and in-depth reporting. As the first newspaper in Scotland to be written in support of independence, we thrive to provide our readers with top quality content covering Scottish affairs in politics & business as well as the latest sports and special features. The National app is the best way to keep up to date with all the breaking news, politics, sports and events in Scotland and gives you the following great features… • Live Updates: Get the latest Scottish news, politics and sport as it happens • Ad-Free Reading: No ads, no pop-ups, no distractions • Daily Digital Newspapers: Read the paper in full, cover to cover • Interactive Puzzles: Play new crosswords, sudoku and more every day • Article Audio Player: Listen to articles and create content playlists All subscriptions are auto-renewing. Payment for this subscription will be charged to your Apple account upon purchase. The subscription will auto-renew within 24 hours of the current subscription expiring, at the same rate as the initial purchase. Auto-renewing subscriptions can be managed via Account Settings allowing them to be turned off. No cancellations of the current subscription are allowed during the active subscription period. Privacy Policy - https://www.newsquest.co.uk/our-policies/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use - https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Mac + MacBook User

Access expert guides and step-by-step tutorials for your Mac and macOS. Master your device or solve common issues with illustrated content from leading tech publishers. Carry your tech support in your pocket.

Highlights
  • Step-by-step guides and tutorials
  • In-depth articles on MacOS
  • Illustrated content
  • Pocket-sized tech support
  • Master MacBook Air and iMac Pro
  • Cross-platform purchase browsing
Features
Read full description

Learn to do more with your Mac and MacOS with our info-packed guides! Written by experienced tech experts, every issue contains in-depth articles, step-by-step tutorials and informative features on everything that is good about MacOS. No matter whether you want to completely master your MacBook Air or just solve a few niggling problems on your iMac Pro, you will find what you are looking for here. - Step-by-step guides and tutorials for Apple Mac and the MacOS operating system… - No more searching online for the answers you need; just reach in to your pocket… - Easy-to-understand, fully illustrated content, written with the reader in mind… - Quickly improve your understanding of MacOS and the different hardware it runs on… From one of the leading publishers in tech bookazines, you can now carry Papercut’s Mac + MacBook User guides to your MacOS device with you at all times! ---------------------------------------------- This is a free app download. Within the app users can purchase the current issue and back issues. Subscriptions are also available within the application. A subscription will start from the latest regular issue at the time of purchase. -The subscription will renew automatically unless cancelled more than 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period, for the same duration and at the current subscription rate for the product. -You may turn off the auto-renewal of subscriptions through your Account Settings, however you are not able to cancel the current subscription during its active period. -Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase and any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when a subscription to that publication is purchased. -If a subscription offers a free trial, at the end of the trial period, you will be charged the full price of the subscription. You may cancel a subscription during its free trial period via the subscription settings on your iTunes account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the subscription period to avoid being charged. Users can register for/ login to a pocketmags account in-app. This will protect their issues in the case of a lost device and allow browsing of purchases on multiple platforms. Existing pocketmags users can retrieve their purchases by logging into their account. We recommend loading the app for the first time in a wi-fi area so that all issue data is retrieved. If your app will not load past the splash page after a first install or an update, please delete and reinstall the app from the App Store Help and frequently asked questions can be accessed in-app and on pocketmags. If you have any problems at all please do not hesitate to contact us: help@pocketmags.com -------------------- You can find our privacy policy here: http://www.pocketmags.com/privacy.aspx You can find our terms and conditions here: http://www.pocketmags.com/terms.aspx

Screenshots

The National4 screens
Mac + MacBook User4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Mac + MacBook User at 100% against The National's 21%. Mac + MacBook User also leads on monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). The National's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 25 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. The National sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per 7 days and Mac + MacBook User sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

The National ships an update every 5 months, Mac + MacBook User every 25 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
The National versus Mac + MacBook User: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThe NationalMac + MacBook User
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.0 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.4% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—5 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 25 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationSubscriptionFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size138 MB41 MB
Age rating+174+
DeveloperNewsquestPapercut

Customer experience

The National

Written reviews28 reviews
Positive21.4%
Neutral14.3%
Negative64.3%

Mac + MacBook User

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

9 purchases

The National

Subscriptions9
  • Weekly Subscription$4.497 Days
  • Weekly Subscription$4.997 Days
  • Monthly Subscription$14.491 Month
Show 6 more
  • Monthly Subscription$16.991 Month
  • Quarterly Subscription$40.993 Months
  • Quarterly Subscription$46.993 Months
  • 6 Month Subscription$76.996 Months
  • 6 Month Subscription$89.996 Months
  • Annual Subscription2 variants$129.991 Year
16 purchases

Mac + MacBook User

Subscriptions1
  • Mac + MacBook User$9.991 Year
One-time15
  • Jun/Jul 2019 (id:471378)$2.99
  • Winter 2023 (pp:994943)$3.99
  • Winter 2022 (id:704066)$3.99
Show 12 more
  • Advanced Mac Guide (id:806477)$7.99
  • Mac Beginners G... (id:806478)$7.99
  • MacBook GuideBook (id:806479)$7.99
  • macOS Mojave Ma... (id:806298)$7.99
  • macOS Catalina ... (id:806125)$7.99
  • Mac Complete Guide (id:805981)$7.99
  • macOS Big Sur M... (id:805898)$7.99
  • Mac Beginners G... (id:805761)$7.99
  • Mac & macOS So... (pp:1028634)$7.99
  • MacBook Manual... (pp:1001003)$7.99
  • Complete Mac Ma... (id:809290)$9.99
  • MacOS Sierra (id:809258)$9.99

Questions

Is The National free?
The National is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mac + MacBook User free?
Mac + MacBook User is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do The National or Mac + MacBook User have ads?
Neither The National nor Mac + MacBook User shows ads.
Which is updated more often, The National or Mac + MacBook User?
The National ships an update every 5 months, and Mac + MacBook User every 25 months. Most recently, The National was updated on October 26, 2026 and Mac + MacBook User on October 25, 2026.

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